Room integrity testing

Gielle does not only design, supply and install some of the most technically advanced fire suppression systems available, we also test and maintain equipment to check your system is capable of responding to a fire emergency.

Your gas suppression system will only work effectively if the room containing your IT or electronic equipment has only limited leakage. If the room leaks, the fire suppression agent will escape before the fire is effectively controlled.

Overview

With any gas fire suppression system – such as Inergen, Novec or FM200 – the room must be sufficiently air tight to hold these gases at the designed concentration while they suppress the fire. Building joints and cable penetrations move over time introducing leak points that may not be noticed during normal building inspections.

Building maintenance activities may also inadvertently create places where gases can leak. That is why World Standard AS1851-2005 “Maintenance of fire protection systems and equipment” requires an Enclosure Integrity Test each year.

Vigilant facility managers take their duty of care seriously and checks that all parts of the fire detection and suppression system are ready to respond to protect critical assets.

Our Room Integrity Testing calculates the leaktightness of a room. It predicts how long the extinguishing agent will remain at the correct concentration to effectively suppress the fire. Testing is quick and unintrusive. Room Integrity Testing can be organised at a time that will not disrupt your normal operations. It is an essential, yet simple, component of your fire protection regime.

Quick and reliable extinguishing can be accomplished by building up and maintaining the required extinguishing concentration for a certain time. The room to be protected, therefore, needs to be sufficiently airtight. The Gielle Door Fan Test from Gielle offers a simple, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method for measuring room tightness and can also be used to directly locate leaks.

Blower Door test

A blower door is a powerful fan that mounts into the frame of an exterior door. The fan pulls air out of the house, lowering the air pressure inside.

The higher outside air pressure then flows in through all unsealed cracks and openings.

The auditors may use a smoke pencil to detect air leaks. These tests determine the air infiltration rate of a building.

Blower doors consist of a frame and flexible panel that fit in a doorway, a variable-speed fan, a pressure gauge to measure the pressure differences inside and outside the home, and an airflow manometer and hoses for measuring airflow.

There are two types of blower doors: calibrated and uncalibrated. It is important that auditors use a calibrated door. This type of blower door has several gauges that measure the amount of air pulled out of the house by the fan. Uncalibrated blower doors can only locate leaks in homes. They provide no method for determining the overall tightness of a building.

The calibrated blower door’s data allow the auditor to quantify the amount of air leakage and the effectiveness of any air-sealing job.

Our recommendation – test regularly
The Gielle Door Fan Test should be performed prior to every initial installation and then repeated at regular intervals – because buildings age, rooms change, new cabling is installed, and seals lose their effectiveness. Annual testing ensures that new leaks are discovered and can quickly be eliminated.

Fast – without interrupting operations
The Gielle Door Fan Test is set up and taken down quickly – and delivers fast results. Moreover, the test doesn’t interrupt ongoing operations in the room to be protected, preventing any production losses or delays in order processing.

MAIN PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS

FM-200 fire systems

Design, supply, and installation of gaseous fire fighting systems based on FM-200.